Container construction



AAug. 25, 1959 c. E. TALBOT, JR

CONTAINER CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 16. 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet I Claiborne E. a/bo, Jr.

IN V EN TOR.

Aug. 25, 1959 c. E. TALBOT, JR

CONTAINER CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 16, 1955 Claiborne E. Ta/bo, Jr.

INVENTOR.

9 BY WM/:

Tri

United States Patent Ofice 2,901,159 CoNTAINER CONSTRUCTION Claiborne E. Talbot, Jr.,- New Orleans, La.-

Application September 16,1955, Serial No. 534,754 z claims. (c1. 229-39) i This invention relates to lined containers, and particularly to a portable ice chest. Y

An object of the present invention is to provide a readily portable inexpensive ice chest vwhich is effective in that it is capable of maintaining drinks or other items cold for long periods of time without leaking, the ice chest being made preferably of flberboard, as Vpressed cardboard, lluted or corrugated cardboard, or other inexpensive and readily .available material, together with a water repellant-liner, the latter being of tar andasphalt impregnated felt, such as used commonly in the building industry for roofing and on sheathing.

Another object of the invention is to provide an article of manufacture which is inexpensive and light in weight, the purpose being to constitute an ice chest capable of being used at least one entire season, but yet costing far less than an ice chest of the permanent type and possessing the advantages of being lighter in weight and equally as useful.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation asmore fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had .to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughounand in which:

Figure l is a perspective View of a typical ice chest made in accordance with the principles of the invention;

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on the plane of line 22 of Figure l and in the direction of the arrows; 1

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective View of the ice chest of Figure l;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary'view-of @the bottom of the chest shown in perspective andwith the bottom thereof being formed;

Figure 5 isa perspective view showing fragmentarily the chest and especially thebottom portion thereof; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a detail of construction. Y

In order to demonstrate the principles of the invention, l have illustrated an ice chest 10 in Figure l which typies the type of ice chest constituting the invention. It is preferred that the ice chest consistof an outer container 12 Vhaving parallel sides 14 and 16 together with two additional parallel sides 18, `the four sides being connected together at their mutually perpendicular corner junctions. The container 12 is preferably made of onepiece construction and therefore, two sides, as sides 14 and 16, are connected together by a small flap underlay 20, which may be stapled, glued or connected by adhesive tape or by other known expedients. The bottom 22 of the container 12 is made of two full overlay flaps 24 and 26, the ilap 24 being hingedly connected to the lower edge of side 16 and the ap 26 being hingedly connected to the lower edge of ilap 14. These aps are held assembled in parallel relationship to each other by staples or other means, such as T-shaped tongue 28 having a shank 29 and cross-member 30, this shank and cross- Patented Aug. 25, 1959 2 member being passed through a slot 32 in ap 26 vand the ends of the T-shaped cross-member 30 being inserted in slits 34 and 36 which are perpendicular to the slot 32. The tongue 28 is cut from the material of ap 24 so that a close tolerance, neat and effective lock is formed between the aps 24 and 26.

The top 49 of the container 12 is made of two panels 42 and 44, the panel 42 being hingedly connected along the upper edge of side 14 while the panel 44 is hingedly connected along the upper edge of side 16. A longitudinal hinge or fold line is formed at 46, as by creasing, adjacent to but spaced from the outer edge of the panel 42. A similar hinge line 48 is formed in the panel 44 in order to form the handle portion 50 of the container with a minimum of effort when assembling the container for use.

A lhand grip slot 51 is formed in the strip 52 which is defined by hinge or fold line 46, and a parallel hinge or fold line 54 which is spaced therefrom. A second slot 56 in registry with the slot 51 is formed in the strip 53 which is defined by the fold line 54 and the outer edge of panel 42. Strip 58 is returned on the outer portion of panel 42 and specifically, the strip 52 thereof in order to provide a high safety factor in carrying the container. The outer edge of panel -44 is constructed identical to Ithe panel 42. It includes a strip 60 between `hinge line 48 and a hinge line 62 together with a strip 64 which is returned on the back surface of strip 60. Aligned slots 68 and 70 are formed in the strips 60 and 64, respectively, and the last mentioned slots are in registry with slots 51 and 56 when the handle is in the operative condition, as shown in Figure 2. Staples 72 or like fastening means connect strips 52 and 58 together, while staples 73 connect strips 68 and 64 together, thereby forming a compact, very strong handle.

It is preferred that the container 12 be made of an inexpensive material, such as iberboard, the iberboard being either pressed cardboard, fluted or corrugated cardboard or other similarly inexpensive material that is quite efficient as an insulator. A liner 8@ is disposed in container 12 and is preferably made of asphalt and/or tar impregnated building felt. This type of material is used since it is water repellant, and the interior of the liner is adapted to contain ice together with the cans and bottles or other articles which are to be maintained in the cool condition. If desired, the liner may be coated with reflective material, such as aluminum paint or foil.

Liner is made in the form of a receptacle having sides 81 and 82, ends 83 and 84, a bottom 85 and a top 86. The liner is made of one-piece construction, and in particular, is seamless along the lower edges and corners to prevent leakage. Ends 83 and 84 are formed by making two triangular corner folds 87 and 88 and overlapping them upon the remaining sheet material 89 therebetween, and then stapling, as at 90.

A pair of overlapping side aps 91 and 92 rise from and are Vhingedly connected vto the ends 83 and 84 of the liner, while aps 93 and 94 are hingedly connected along the top edges of the sides 8l and 82 of the liner. Although the user of the device may choose to fold the flaps in some other order, it is suggested that the ilaps 91 and 92 be first placed in superposition with respect to each other, and then, the larger flaps 93 and 94 be placed thereover.

In use of the device, it is opened and the foodstuffs and beverages together with the ice are placed in the open liner which is located in the chamber of the container 10. Then, the llaps of the liner are closed and the ilaps 95 and 96 hingedly connected at the upper edges of the sides 18 of container 12 are brought in generally parallel and coplanar relationship to each other upon the flaps of the liner 80. Thereafter, the panels 42 and 44 are brought together so that all of the handle slots are in registry. Now, the device is ready to be transported from one location to another for use. The beverages and articles of food are maintained cool for periods of time which will vary in accordance with the conditions under which the device is used. `However, the time which the beverages are maintained in the cool condition compares very favorably with the more expensive metallic type portable ice chests.

The VVforegoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention las claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

l. In a portable ice chest having a liner, lan outer container including four side panels connected together at right angles to each other at confronting edges thereof, two of said side panels having parallel lower edges, a bottom for said container and including two overlapping flaps, one of said flaps secured to one of said panel edges and the other of said aps secured to the othenof said panel edges, each of said flaps being suiciently large to cover the entire bottom area of the container thereby being fully overlapped and forming a two-ply bottom for the container, interlocking means operatively connected with said ilaps and including a first slot in one of said aps disposed in parallel relation to said panel edges, other slots spaced from said slot and spaced apart a greater distance than the length of said first slot and disposed perpendicularly thereto, a tongue on the other of said flaps which passes through said slot, extensions on the end of said tongue projecting outwardly on either side thereof which pass through said other slots, atop forming a part of said container and including additional aps hingedly connected to the upper edges of two of said sides and adapted to be brought together over the upper open end of said container, hinged panels protruding from the upper edges of two of said sides, said panels each being slightly wider than half the width of the container and having strips at the upper edges thereof, hinge lines separating said strips from the remainder of said hinged panels, said strips and said hinged panels having hand grip openings therein adapted to be brought into registry with each other when said strips are hingedly moved with respect to the remainder of said panels so as to be returned approximately 180 and superposed thereon, `a plurality of fasteners, said strips being disposed in contacting relation to each other andheld to their respective panels along said hinge lines by means of said fasteners, said fasteners in said strips holding said panels in gable formation at the top of the container, said liner having upper iiaps adapted to overlap each other and disposed beneath said hinged panel in order to maintain the interior of the liner cool by preventing the heat from entering through the opening in said container.

2. In `a portable ice chest having a liner, an outer container including four side panels connected together at right angles `to each other at confronting edges thereof, two of said side panels having parallel lower edges, a bottom for said container and including two overlapping flaps, one of said aps secured to one of said panel edges and the other of said ilaps secured to the other of said panel edges, each of said flaps being sufficiently large to cover the entire bottom area of the container thereby being fully overlapped and forming a two-ply bottom forthe container, interlocking means operatively connected with said flaps and including a rst slot in one of saidaps disposedin parallel relation to said panel edges, other kslots spaced from said slot Vand spaced apart a greater distance than the length of said first slot and disposed perpendicularly thereto, a tongue on the other of said flaps which passes through said slot, extensions on the end of said tongue projecting outwardly on either side thereof which pass through said other slots, a top forming a part of said container and including additional flaps hingedly connected to the upper edges of two of said sides and adapted to be'brought together over the upper open end of said container, hinged panels protruding from the upper edges of two of said sides, said panels each being slightly wider than half the width of the container and having strips at the upper edges thereof, hinge lines separating said strips from the remainder of said panels, said strips and said panels having hand grip openings each provided with edges about its entire periphery therein adapted .to be brought into regstery with each other when said strips are hingedly moved with respect to the remainder of said panels so as to be returned approximately and supeiposed thereon, a plurality of fasteners, said strips being disposed in contacting relation to each other and held to their respective panels along said hinge lines by means of said fasteners, s aid fasteners in said strips holding said panels assembled in gable-formation at the top of said container, said liner having upper flaps adapted to overlap each other and disposed beneath said panels in order to maintain the interior of the liner cool by preventing the heat from entering through the opening in said container, said Yliner being made of one-piece construction having seamless corners along the lower edges thereof to prevent 'liquid from escaping therethrough.

References Cited in `the ytile of this patent A(narran STATES PATnNrs 228,008 Wenzel May-25, 1880 '1,668,800 Boniield 'May 8, 1928 1,670,036 Hirsch May 15, 1928 1,953,885 -McAleer Apr. 3, 1934 1,984,611 Weaver Dec. 18, 1934 2,006,705 Bangs July '2, y1935 2,315,094 lRehield et al Mar. 30, 1943 Y2,379,665 'Stone 'July 3, 1945 2,391,767 Beerend Dee-25, 1945 2,443,431 Ringler June 15, 1948 2,685,402 Caster Aug. 3, 1954 `FOREIGN PATENTS 102,025 Sweden July 8, 1941 

